One Response

Very interesting article. You brought up many good points. This “burden” that you suggest doesn’t have to exist if you know exactly how to translate the UX activities to layman’s terms without having to get hung up on deciding what to call it. For instance, “heuristic evaluation = expert review”; “affinity diagramming = sensemaking or pattern-seeking”; “pictoral representations = ideation”; “focus groups = well…we don’t do focus groups, that’s a marketing thing but we do have great conversations with users to understand them”.

And if an RFP requires certain work to be done, have them explain exactly what they want. And if it isn’t what they need, and you don’t do that, then you can say, “No” to the project.

If you remove the politics and concentrate on the more important task of adapting all the while standing your ground on what you do, there really shouldn’t be a problem.

About the authors

Carol Smith is a business-minded designer who challenges teams to make informed decisions. She has successfully led projects for large corporations, government agencies, and non-profits. Carol earned her M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction from DePaul University and is an active UX community organizer who enjoys mentoring those new to the field. Twitter: @carologic